Fort McMurray-Conklin voters elect new UCP MLA Laila Goodridge

The United Conservative Party has retained both seats up for grabs in two provincial byelections Thursday.

Unofficial results show that in Fort McMurray-Conklin, UCP candidate Laila Goodridge captured almost two-thirds of the votes with 2,635 compared to the second-place finisher Jane Stroud of the NDP with 1,181.

Goodridge said it was difficult to engage the public in a byelection in the middle of the summer on a weekday, but was pleased so many voters showed they are interested in the "blue wave that's coming forward."

She said that while she was campaigning, she heard a lot of concern about lost jobs in the region, the carbon tax, and the government's response to the wildfires that swept the Fort McMurray area in 2016.

"I heard lots of challenges of people trying to adjust after the fire. Lots of people who still aren't back in their homes."​

UCP leader Jason Kenney will hold a news conference Friday with his two newly elected MLAs. In a statement, Kenney reiterated that his party is on the right track to win the next provincial election in 2019.